You might expect something, well, different from a member of the U.S. diplomatic corps. But Scieska (pronounced "Shes-ka") isn't your average dignitary. He's the nation's first "National Ambassador for Children's Literature," and he's not planning a white-gloves-and-satin-sash approach as he travels the country as a reading advocate.
Scieszka is the author of some 30 chapter and picture books and the winner of a Caldecott medal. He's known for his writerly irreverence and his promotion of lifelong reading - and he plans to use both during his two year-term in the newly created post at the Library of Congress.
A former elementary-school teacher, Scieszka says there are two key means to encourage kids to read - and to keep reading. The first is to employ humor, and the second is to broaden the definition of what "acceptable" reading is.
"Drama and misery have come to be prized over humor" in the canon of kids' lit, he claims. Teachers, parents and librarians might be well-meaning in their choices - wanting to expose children to a range of social issues to help in their development - yet Scieszka believes that the tone and range are too limited. All this has wrecked "any creativity or love of reading in the kids," he says.
Scieszka recommends authors such as Roald Dahl and Arnold Lobel, as humor is essential to grabbing kids' attention.
Secondly, "don't rule out 'Calvin and Hobbes,' " Sciezka says, when it comes to psyching up a kid to read. It's time to give kids a break from the "mind-numbing biographies of George Washington and Sacagawea." Not that there's anything wrong with them. But first take opportunities to get kids excited about learning to read, and then turn that excitement into a thrill of "reading to learn."
Before becoming an ambassador for kids' literacy, Scieszka founded Guys Read, a program focused on helping boys develop a love of books. Last month, A.J. Wilcox, 13, attended the first meeting of the Salt Lake City chapter of the group.
Wilcox, an eighth-grader at Bryant Intermediate School, saw an advertisement for the group and traveled to the public library after school to check it out. He'd tried to talk a few friends and his cousins into joining the group, but none were very interested. "Nowadays not many kids like reading that much," he said.
Scieszka said he founded Guys Read precisely for boys like Wilcox.
Margaret Neville, of The King's English bookshop, has long been a Scieszka fan and supports his efforts to inspire kids to read. Not to mention the National Ambassador for Children's Literature's ability to crack up the president.
At Scieszka's swearing-in ceremony last week in Washington, he read parts of his most recent book, "Knucklehead," a hilarious memoir of growing up in a large Catholic family of boys in Flint, Mich. The audience included President Bush and his wife, Laura.
Scieszka believes the No Child Left Behind law has "abused" children by forcing them to learn toward tests and not to learn for pleasure. To make his point, at the gala Scieszka read aloud provocative excerpts from "Knucklehead" - from off-color jokes he told to the nuns in his parochial school to a chapter called "Crossing Swords," in which all six Scieszka boys urinated in a single toilet. At the same time.
And how did the Bushes respond?
Pop, bam, pow. And tickle, tickle.
Both Bushes, Scieszka reports, were tickled pink.
Book Reading
Jon Scieszka, the first National Ambassador of Young People's Literature at the Library of Congress, will present a reading from his book, "Knucklehead," on Oct. 6 at 3:30 p.m. at the The King's English Bookshop, 1511 S. 1500 East, Salt Lake City. Call 801-484-9100 or visit www.kingsenglishbooksense.com for information. The reading is free. For more about Scieszka's work, visit www.jsworldwide.com.
